The man
who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take
possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.
~Andrew Carnegie
Most of us have been taught to
follow the crowd. We subscribe to "tribal" thinking, which is
the thinking of the masses. It is not easy to break from this type of
thinking, or non-thinking. In my African context, the idea of holding
tradition dear to the heart is highly considered even if it does not serve the
masses. In the African traditions, there used to be very retrogressive
practices such as sexual cleansing of widows and widowers. The masses were so
committed to conducting the practice after every death as a way of making the
dead rest in peace. However, when HIV came on the scene, it changed the whole
ball game and the practice has seen a significant if not total decline. People came
to realize that either somebody lied to them or the dead had changed their
minds. I believe selfishness was at the core of such evil practices. Therefore,
commitment to the norms of a clan or tribe is something that you may have to
rethink in most of life’s endeavors. A lot
of people find thinking outside the popular way a huge stumbling block because they believe what social, political, religious and other authority figures have told them is "true".
of people find thinking outside the popular way a huge stumbling block because they believe what social, political, religious and other authority figures have told them is "true".
There is a lot of fear tied up in
leaving the tribe. However, you will never experience true freedom or riches
unless you learn to think for yourself. But to do this, you must be
capable of critical thought - which is something the members of the tribe cannot
do. Some sections of the poor African rural areas sometimes may not even know
that they are poor. Hence, they don’t even know how to start to think any other
way than the tribe’s way
Put another way - most people
don't know how to think. They have been told WHAT to think for so long,
they no longer know HOW to think. It’s like the traditional Education
System that has for a long time taught every student what to think. We have
been busy working so hard academically just to pass the examination so that we
can graduate and possibly get a good job. True, the education system has helped
us to understand out environment and how to relate to it. But that is just a
start. What is you began to use your knowledge and use it to exploit the
resources you have learnt whole your life and turn them into value. Put Simply:
·
TURN GOEGRAPHY INTO FARMING
·
SCEINCE INTO MANUFACTURING GOODS
·
MATHEMATICS INTO SOLUTION DESIGNS
·
HISTORY INTO MODERN THINKING
Freedom and riches require you to
think contrary to what the tribe is thinking. If you have not yet began
to achieve the things you desire in life, try to look around yourself and the
group you are in. you may not have realized that you are actually thinking like
everybody else around you. And it ALWAYS requires you to question the beliefs
you hold, on everything. This is not easy
because we are addicted to certainty.
because we are addicted to certainty.
We would rather be certain about
our beliefs than face the fact that what we believe may not be
"true". But the more you question what the tribe believes the
more you will realize that they are
hypnotized. You don't have to wait for them to wake up from the trance. You can do it right now!
hypnotized. You don't have to wait for them to wake up from the trance. You can do it right now!